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~Sumit Nagal will face off against Guy den Ouden to begin the tie tomorrow ~

Team India will kick off its 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers campaign with Sumit Nagal taking on Netherlands' Guy den Ouden in front of the home crowd at the S. M. Krishna Tennis Stadium, Bengaluru, on February 7, 2026. With the head-to-head record between the two teams tied at 2–2, the hosts, led by captain Rohit Rajpal, will look to make the most of their home advantage and get past the Dutch side.

The match between Indian Olympian Sumit Nagal and Guy Den Ouden will be followed by another singles contest between Dhakshineswar Suresh and Jesper de Jong to conclude the first day.

Referring to the home conditions as more of an advantage than a pressure factor, Nagal commented, “Home advantage exists in any sport. In tennis, for example, when I played at the Olympics, I had five people cheering for me in front of 7,000 French supporters.”

“Obviously, when you are playing in such conditions for three to four hours, it makes a huge difference. We are hoping that the Netherlands players experience the same thing tomorrow, and that we can make it happen for however long they are on court,” he further added.

The second day will witness a high-profile doubles clash, with the Indian pair of N. Sriram Balaji and Yuki Bhambri taking on Sander Arends and David Pel The remaining two singles matches will see Sumit Nagal face Jesper de Jong, followed by Dhakshineswar Suresh taking on Guy den Ouden.

Stressing the importance of team effort in boosting their chances of success, Dhakshineswar said, “It’s a team effort here. Everyone is putting in the same amount of work; people off the court, on the court, and those cheering for us from home or in the stadium. It’s not just one guy carrying the team.” 

One of the major highlights of the draw was the replacement of Ritwik Choudary with N. Sriram Balaji in the men’s doubles pairing. Explaining the decision, captain Rohit Rajpal said, “We felt that Bala has been playing tournaments back-to-back. He just played in Bahrain, had a very good result, and then came here. Ritwik has also been playing very well, so it was a difficult decision.”

Tickets for the Davis Cup qualifiers can be booked at the link below:

https://ticketgenie.in/ticket/Davis-Cup-Qualifiers-2026